Before the

Act of Union 1707 The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the te ...

, the

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

s of the

sheriffdom A sheriffdom is a judicial district in Scotland, led by a sheriff principal. Since 1 January 1975, there have been six sheriffdoms. Each sheriffdom is divided into a series of sheriff court districts, and each sheriff court is presided over by a ...

shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

(also called

Nithsdale Nithsdale (''Srath Nid'' in Scottish Gaelic), also known as Strathnith, Stranith or Stranit, is the strath or dale of the River Nith in southern Scotland. Nithsdale was one of the medieval provinces of Scotland. The provinces gradually lost th ...

) and the stewartry of Annandale elected

commissioners A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

to represent them in the unicameral

Parliament of Scotland The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council o ...

and in the

Convention of Estates The Convention of Estates of Scotland was a sister institution to the Scottish Parliament which sat from the early sixteenth century. Initially it was only attended by the clergy and nobles, but the burgh commissioners were later added. The Conven ...

. The number of commissioners was increased from two to four in 1690. After 1708,

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

returned one member to the

House of Commons of Great Britain The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the third estate of th ...

and later to the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 me ...

List of shire commissioners

* 1628–33, 1639–41, 1643, 1644–47, 1648: Sir Robert Grierson of Lag * 1643: John Laurie of Maxwelton During the

Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

, the sheriffdom of Dumfries was represented by one Member of Parliament in the

Protectorate Parliament This is a list of parliaments of England from the reign of King Henry III, when the '' Curia Regis'' developed into a body known as Parliament, until the creation of the Parliament of Great Britain in 1707. For later parliaments, see the List ...

at Westminster. * 1654–55:

James Johnstone, 2nd Earl of Hartfell James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

* 1656–58: George Smith After

the Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

, the Parliament of Scotland was again summoned to meet in Edinburgh. * 1661–63: James Crichton of St Leonards * 1661–63, 1665 (convention), 1667 (convention), 1669–72, 1678 (convention): Robert Fergusson of Craigdarroch * 1665 (convention), 1667 (convention), 1669–74, 1678 (convention), 1681–82, 1685: Sir Robert Dalzell of

Glenae Ae (pronounced ) is a village in Dumfries and Galloway, south west Scotland. The village is located on the edge of a man-made conifer forest, and is approximately north of Dumfries. History Robert Chambers wrote of the Ae area in 1826, de ...

(died 1685)''Complete Baronetage'', vol. iv
p. 249
* 1678 (convention), 1681–82, 1685–86: Sir Robert Grierson of Lagg * 1686, 1689 (convention): Sir John Dalzell of Glenae (died 1689) * 1690: James Johnstone of Corhead (died c.1690) * 1690–1701: William Creichtone of Craufurdstone (died c.1701) * 1689 (convention), 1689–99: Sir James Johnstone of Westerhall (died c.1700)''Complete Baronetage'', vol. iv
p. 394
* 1690–1702: Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick of Closeburn''Complete Baronetage'', vol. iv
pp. 329

330
* 1693–1701: Alexander Johnstone of Elsiesheills * 1700–02, 1702–07: Sir John Johnstone of Westerhall * 1702–07: William Douglass of Dornock * 1702, 1702–07: John Sharp of Hoddam * 1702–07: Alexander Fergussone of Isle

List of shire commissioners

References

See also